APPENDIX. 



87 



TABLE XXIII. Maximum depths of Wisconsin lakes. 



NOTE It has been found, by experience, that the popular ideas in regard to the 

 depths of lakes are utterly unreliable. Consequently, although only a small number of 

 the Wisconsin lakes have been accurately sounded, it seems best to append a table of 

 those depths that are known, to serve as a matter of reference. 



In 1897 a reconnaissance of a considerable number of the Wisconsin lakes was made 

 by the author as preliminary to the study of the lakes undertaken by the Natural His- 

 tory Survey of Wisconsin. Although this was a hasty trip, considerable care was taken 

 to determine the greatest depths of the lakes visited, and where subsequent detailed sur- 

 veys were made, it appeared that the record of the preliminary trip was quite accurate. 

 Under the auspices of the Survey detailed hydrographic surveys were afterwards made 

 of the following lakes : Lake Geneva, the Oconomowoc lakes, Lake Beulah, Elkhart 

 lake, the Waupaca lakes, Delavan lake, the Lauderdale lakes, Green lake, Lake 

 Mendota, and Lake Monona. The figures given for these lakes, then, are authoritative. 

 The figures given for the other lakes are the result of only a cursory examination, with 

 the probability that the deepest parts of the lakes were examined, but with the possi- 

 bility of some error. The depths are the result of a personal examination by the autho r 

 and were not obtained by any hearsay evidence. 



